Microsoft is bringing its Advanced Shader Delivery technology to more Windows 11 gaming PCs, and Gears of War: E-Day will be the first major game to showcase the feature across a wide range of hardware from AMD, NVIDIA, Intel, and Qualcomm.
Advanced Shader Delivery, also known as ASD, is designed to solve one of the most annoying problems in modern PC gaming: shader compilation stutter. Many PC games need to compile shaders or Pipeline State Objects before or during gameplay. This process can cause long first-launch wait times, sudden frame drops, and noticeable stuttering, especially in large, graphically demanding titles.
With ASD, Microsoft changes how this process works. Instead of forcing a player’s CPU to compile a huge number of shaders when the game is launched for the first time, precompiled shaders can be delivered with the game download. This means players can spend less time waiting and more time playing, while also getting a smoother experience once the game is running.
According to Microsoft, Gears of War: E-Day shows just how big the improvement can be. On a typical PC without Advanced Shader Delivery, shader compilation during the first launch can take several minutes. With ASD enabled, that process can be reduced to only a few seconds. Microsoft says this represents around a 95% reduction in shader compilation time.
For PC gamers, that could be a major quality-of-life upgrade. Shader compilation has become a common complaint in many recent PC releases, particularly when games compile shaders during gameplay. Even powerful gaming PCs can suffer from stutter if shaders are not prepared in advance. By handling more of this work before the game starts, Advanced Shader Delivery could help Windows 11 games feel more polished from the first session.
There are some requirements to use the feature. Players will need Windows 11 version 24H2 or newer. AMD support currently includes GPUs based on RDNA 1, RDNA 2, RDNA 3, RDNA 3.5, and RDNA 4 architectures, with Adrenalin 26.6.1 or later installed. Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 devices are also supported.
Microsoft says support will expand later this month to all NVIDIA RTX graphics cards, including RTX Spark. Intel support is also planned for Arc B570 and B580 GPUs, as well as Core Ultra Series 2 and Series 3 integrated graphics. Once these platforms are included, Advanced Shader Delivery should cover a much larger part of the Windows 11 PC gaming market.
For Gears of War: E-Day, players will need to install the Xbox PC app before downloading the game in order to take advantage of ASD. When the feature is working correctly, the game’s launch window will show a “Precompiled shaders installed” message. This confirms that the precompiled shaders have been installed and that Advanced Shader Delivery is active for the game.
Gears of War: E-Day is only the start. Microsoft has also confirmed that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 will support Advanced Shader Delivery in the future, with more games expected to follow.
If the technology becomes widely adopted across major PC game storefronts, Advanced Shader Delivery could become an important system-level improvement for Windows 11 gaming. It has the potential to reduce first-launch delays, minimize shader-related stutter, and make new PC game releases feel smoother and more reliable from day one. For players tired of waiting through long shader compilation screens or dealing with sudden performance hiccups, ASD could be one of the most welcome upgrades coming to PC gaming.
